


A Trickster's Recollection

by 1JettaPug



Category: DCU, The Flash (TV 1990), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Axel needs a hug, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Crimes & Criminals, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Memories, Mother-Son Relationship, Past, Recovered Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 09:10:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8618377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1JettaPug/pseuds/1JettaPug





	

It was only once in a blue moon when Axel was persuaded to clean out his half of the apartment. The only reason he was doing it was because Hartley threatened to kick him out on the streets if he didn't. That and something about his room being a 'uninhabitable wasteland'. There was also that thing that Hartley said, like, 'I've seen prisons that were cleaner than this!'. Usually, Axel would have just shrugged it off and ignored him until Piper forget, but when he actually started to smell the fumes emanating from his room, he knew Pipes was right. Thus, he actually managed to put down his game controller and pick up the vacuum.

Before he was even halfway done, he'd had all the energy drained from him. He never knew how much clothes he really owned until he scraped a mountain off his beanbag. He didn't even know he had a beanbag!

He just laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Axel shut his eyes and flopped his head to the side, screwing his face him as a fowl smell hit him right in the face. "The fuck is that shit?" He turned himself on his stomach and managed to squeeze his skinny ass under his bed. He gagged when he found that plate of meatloaf(???) that he meant to eat... three months ago. Ugh! At least it wasn't a dead rat. Hartley would have killed him three different ways if that were the case.

Still, he had to get rid of it before it made him do the technicolor yawn. He cringed and pushed the rotten meal to the other side of the bed. He'd grab it when he wasn't trapped in a confined space with a limited amount of oxygen.

When he shoved the expired meal, a yellow box caught his eye. _**Axel Jesse**_ was written on the side of the box in handwriting that was not his own. He managed to wriggle out from underneath the bed, grabbing the box with the utmost carefulness as he exited. He sat down criss cross applesauce style in the middle of the floor, lifting the lid off of the box. He sat it to the side and took in the few memories that were saved from his childhood.

A tiny album was laid at the bottom of the box, but Axel picked it up first. He hand it in his hands and flipped it open to a random page. He looked at the picture and smiled, remembering it happened when he was about three years old. _The Trickster_ and _Prank_ brought ' _Lil' Trix_ ' on his first bank heist.

Axel sighed, softly. He still remembered the way the guy behind the camera shook like a leaf when his father shoved the camera in his hands. It didn't help that he threatened to blow the whole bank up if he didn't get a clear shot. Luckily for him, it came out great. Axel could see the way his parents' eyes sparkled with energy and excitement behind their masks, their smiles brightening up the entire room of people begging for their lives. The picture below it showed his mom and dad in the getaway car, both happy and smiling. Prank had the camera now, and she took the picture while the Trickster drove down Central's streets like a bat out of hell. Axel wasn't really in the shot, but he could see his car-seat behind his dad's seat and beside an ass ton of cash. ' **Baby's First Heist** ' was written carefully under the picture.

Axel smiled. His parents were together, they were there to watch over him, and they were having the time of their lives. It was perfect.

Looking at a different page, Axel saw a time were things weren't as perfect. He was four in this picture, and he was taking a picture of him and his mom. He recalled telling her something along the lines of, "a picture will cheer you up, mommy,". He knew that because he could see the redness in her eyes and her tear-stained cheeks. She was only attempting a smile for her baby boy, because she couldn't be sad around her little ray of sunshine.

He just wanted to make his mother happy. Though, that wasn't going to work since his father had been apprehended by the police and was being watched under maximum security. Rumors were going around, driving his mom to tears every time she overheard one. They were all saying that the police were going to kill him and make it seem like an accidental death. No one was going to miss him... No one except them.

Of course, at the time, Axel didn't know any of that. His mom put on the best fake smile she could and told him that he was just on a trip for a few weeks and that he'd be back soon enough. Eventually, the Trickster did managed to escape his cell and escape police custody. Axel recalled seeing his mom cry more over his return than when he was caught by the cops.

Going ahead a few pages, Axel saw the time where he and his dad dumped fake spiders on people's heads. Fluffy, fake spiders were everywhere, and there were a few pictures of people's terrified faces. Axel chuckled to himself. He loved the little, (mostly) harmless tricks they used to pull when he was little. His mom was adamant and wouldn't let his dad let him pull some of the more dangerous ones, like the ones they did for heists.

The next two pages in the book were filled with old strips of newspaper. It showed off Lil' Trix and his parents on the front cover of some of the papers proclaiming, "Central's Famous Family of Fiends". The Trickster was laughing manically on top of an overturned armored truck, swinging an explosive rubber chicken around. Prank was standing beside him, balancing Lil' Trix on her hip and holding onto the Trickster's bag of tricks. The police had guns aimed at them in the picture, but they never shot at them. Trickster and Prank had a toddler with them, and the cops weren't dumb enough to endanger a child like that. But the two villains were smart enough to use their kid like that. They dressed him up half medieval jester and half punk in this picture. The mismatched outfit actually managing to look kind of adorable on him.

Actually, when Axel thought about it and looked through a few more pages, he was certain that his parents put him in different costumes just to make him look adorable. He had ten costume changes in the last few pages alone.

"Mom, dad..." Axel whispered to himself, seeing the last picture on that page. His parents were holding hands in front of the burning CCPD building. They looked so happy. In the picture below it, they had Axel in between him, and his dad held up a speech bubble to his face. _"Tricked ya!"_ Axel couldn't help but chuckle.

Axel turned a couple of pages in the album and saw a photo of his first (and last) day of preschool. He remembered his parents filling out informational sheets one night after dinner, putting down fake names and information. Apparently, it had been good enough to fool the school system. He was forced to go to school two weeks later. He couldn't believe that his dad was crying more than his mom when they had to let him go. She probably had to drag him out of the building.

Axel remembered getting a little upset, but his mom distracted him by giving him his teddy bear. It took less than three minutes before he realized that his mommy and daddy weren't in the classroom with him anymore. It took less than ten minutes for his parents to come back to the school because the building spontaneously caught on fire. Luckily, no one was hurt, and Axel wasn't forced to go back to preschool. His father once said it was because he was too smart for them and didn't need to go. His mother once said it was because it was because he was too smart and too much like his father.

The next page was a bunch of pictures of the old apartment that they lived in. Axel fondly recalled the old place. Besides the kitchen and the bathroom, the entire place was decorated by none other than the Trickster, himself. Axel helped decorate the place when he got a box of crayons. He drew on the walls, the floors and whatever he could reach. Sometimes, his dad even sat down beside of him and helped him color. He smiled, thinking how awesome it was that he was one of the few kids that was allowed to get away with such a thing.

The next photo was of Axel with his parents on either side of him, lying down on the floor and making silly faces at the camera. There was a picture where both of his parents were pinching the baby fat on his cheeks, and he was making a grumpy face. Another picture had his dad holding the camera and kissing his mom on the cheek. Axel's fingers traced over the photos, missing those soft, domestic moments where they were almost like a normal family. He didn't dislike that his family wasn't normal, but their criminal lives drove their family to pieces one year after these pictures were taken.

Axel sighed, feeling happy but sad after looking through the photo album. He wished some things stayed the same, and some things never happened. He glanced back down at the album and smiled. He'd keep these memories the same, though.

Axel shut the book and gently set it down in his box. He took one last look at the photo of the Trickster and Prank with Lil' Trix between them, smiling when he swore he could hear their laughter and the police sirens ringing in the background. Explosions might have been happening right and left and rubber chickens might have been flying out of the trunk of the car, but all he could focus on was that happy laughter.


End file.
